Story of the Fearful
by OR7A
Summary: What happens to the normal people when the G-Virus outbreak spreads to all of Raccoon City?
1. Outbreak: Official

Tom rose from his bed, he hardly ever got a day off and he always made the most of them when they did come along. What was he doing this particular day off? It was 2pm and he was just getting up...  
  
Tom worked for Umbrella, almost everybody in Raccoon City worked for Umbrella... it was a company that pratically owned an entire city. Much like the oil companies own most of the cities in the Middle East and Alaska.  
  
"Debs?!" he called out, his girlfriend was a reporter for the Raccoon City times and always made sure to take the same day off as Tom's rare days off.  
  
"Yeah?" she said poking her head round the bedroom door, she'd only just got up a few moments before Tom had first opened his eyes, neither of them were morning people.  
  
"Just wondering if you were still here," he said smiling. Tom was 26 and had one of the least glamoures jobs in the whole of Umbrella. He worked with the clean-up crew. Work had been slow at first but since about two weeks ago Tom and his team had been called out a lot more to clear up chemical spills... mainly in the sewers. Tom was beginning to hate the month of September.  
  
Deb smiled, he loved Tom no matter how lazy he was. "Come on lumux, let up and we can have breakfast together."  
  
Tom looked up at the clock that hung on the wall at the end of the bed, "You mean Lunch," he said sarcastically.  
  
Deb smiled before disappearing from visibility behind the door once again. The two had been going out for about three years, and they'd finaly gotten their own place together in Feburary. It was only a small apartment, one bedrom, one kitchen/lounge and a bathroom... but it did them alright.  
  
"Hey tom," Deb called. "I'll be there in a minute," Tom said rolling over again closing his eyes.  
  
"No seriously, there's something happening on the news," Debs called.  
  
"You mean the news is reporting something thats happening," Tom yelled back irritably... he hated having his sleep interpted.  
  
He staggered out of bed and into the living room, he rubbed his eyes a couple of times before walking slowly in a trance-like state towards where Debs was purched on the end of the coffee table starring at the news.  
  
"What's up?" he asked scratching his back.  
  
"The... the..." Debs couldn't even get the words out.  
  
Tom looked to the television...  
  
"What the..." Tom's voiced trailed off. He really didn't know what to make of what his eyes were telling him was going on. He'd never seen anything like it outside of the fictional world of movies.  
  
"Yes we've heard startling reports from the outskirts of Raccoon City early this morning that indicate their is somesort of virus transmitted through skin violating contact with an infected person. This virus apparently make all those suffering chronically and uncontrollably insane... to the point that they will attack and attempt to..." the new reporter's voice trailed off from a moment as he found the courage to continue, "Attempt to," he repeated, "Eat all those around them."  
  
Tom looked to his girlfriend, he could see her breaking down and quickly grabbed for the remote control which lay beside Debs on the coffee table. He switched the TV off and held her in his arms.  
  
"What's going on Tom?" Debs asked. She was a reporter... but she could never handle these sorts of situations. anything, even quite minor things, would send her into a small panic.  
  
"I don't know," was the best he could come up with.  
  
Tom held her slightly away from him for a second so he could look into her eyes, "But it'll be alright, got it? I'm never going to let anything happen to you."  
  
He held her close once again kissing her softly on the top of her head.  
  
###Time Passes###  
  
"But I just can't believe what's actually going on... surely it's not real?" Gary said. Soon after seeing the news report Tom had called his longtime school friend and now working colleague Gary and he had rushed strait over.  
  
Tom had left Debs sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea, she needed to steadier her nerves a little. If something bad was going to happen having a jittery girlfriend wouldn't make Tom's protection of her very easy.  
  
Tom kept his voice low, they were stood in the bedroom of the small apartment where Tom had taken Gary to speak privately for a moment. "You know the sort of stuff Umbrella is experimenting with up at their labs... you heard what happened at the Spencer mansion. The rumours could be true.."  
  
Gary shook his head, "It's like we're in a computer game or something.. I just can't.." he trailed off.  
  
He didn't really know how tor eact or deal with the situation. Though he was luckier than Tom, he didn't have girlfriend in the city, she was a fasion designer's attache and she'd gone to Paris wit the designer... Tom on the other hand not only had Debs to look after within the city limits but also his aging father who lived almost clear across town, luckily the furthest part of the city away from the area where the reports of the bizarre occurances were coming from.  
  
"Right," Tom said wanting to take charge of the situation and try and cope.  
  
"As Laura is out of town you've got nobody to worry about right?"  
  
Gary paused for a moment waying his life with that of those co-workers that, if the situation different and they'd had longer together, he would have called friend.  
  
He decided to go with survival, "Right."  
  
"I've got Debs and my dad... as you know he lives on the other side of town. I want to head over to there get him and then head strait out of the city."  
  
Gary nodded, "Good plan... even if there isn't something going down, it's better to leave and make-sure.. it's not like we're due at work today."  
  
Tom grunted in agreement and the two headed back into the living room/kitchen where they found Debs brandishing a small firearm....  
  
"Debs... where did you get that?" Tom asked, he was more than a little distresses to see his love holding a firearm.  
  
"It's your isn't it?" she said rather than questioned.  
  
Tom nodded, he'd bought it as soon as he'd begun to hear the rumours about what Umbrella was planning.  
  
"Why do you own a gun Tom?" she asked.  
  
"I..." Tom stalled for a moment, he was unsure if he should tell her the truth about the fact he had heard a rumour about the experiences Umbrella were doing... nothing else but those experiments could have caused something like what Tom had seen on the Television.  
  
"I got it when I started to hear the rumours about Umbrella were doing..." Tom finally decided, he'd rather have Debs angry at him than have to live with the fact he lied to her.  
  
her expression broke slightly and a hysterical tear or two came to her eyes.  
  
"You knew what they were doing?" she said trying to keep her voice and entire demenour as quiet and normal as possible.  
  
"I'd heard rumours from some of the lab guys... we play cards occasionally," Tom said coming towards her slowly, he wanted to get the gun away from her.  
  
Debs backed away and Tom threw his arms slowly into the air in a calmly motion. Debs continued to back up until she felt the table push again her leg. At which point she turned around and placed the gun on the table.  
  
Still keeping calm she moved over to the sofa and sat again.  
  
Tom didn't take his eyes off her as he slowly moved forward to pick up the gun. "Right," he said after he'd successfully gotten the handgun, a nicely crafted custom design Tom had bought from the Kendo Gun Shop on the otherside of Racoon near the police department HQ.  
  
"Debs, Gary... let's go to my dad's... and then."  
  
Tom was interupted, there was a bang at the door. 


	2. Survival is a Privilage

AUTHOR's NOTES: I'd like to say thanks for the great feedback I've been getting about this story. I was unenthusiastic about it's concept at first, but your reviews have convinced me too keep going :D  
  
"Who's there?" called out Tom, almost an entire minute of silence had passed since the bang on the door.  
  
Debs, Tom and Gary had all frozen at the noise, all three were more than just a little on edge.  
  
There was no answer, instead their question was greeted with a series of three knocks each steadily getting louder. The third even shook the door in it's frame.  
  
"It's locked right?" Gary whispered to Tom.  
  
Tom nodded and then slowly moved over towards the door. He held the gun in the classic style, as he'd seen cops do on TV and was ready to use it against whatever was to greet him after he opened the door.  
  
Tom was looking at Gary all the time as he reached over towards the door knob, he wanted to make sure his friend was ready for whatever was to come through. Debs had already retreated to the kitchen.  
  
Tom grabbed the door knob and flung the door open violently drawing his gun and outstretching it in front of his at the fullness of his arm length.  
  
"Dad?" Tom said breathing a sigh of relief, as was Gary and Debs (Who'd now emerged from the kitchen to greet her father-in-law.  
  
"What are you doing pointing that thing in my face?" Tom's father said brushing his son's hand aside and coming in... suitcase on wheels in tow.  
  
"Hello Gary," Tom's dad said addressing his son's oldest and dearest friend.  
  
"Mr. McNealy," Gary said nodding to greet his best-friend's dad.  
  
"I assume," Tom's dad (First name: Wyatt) he said pointing to the gun Tom held, "That you've been following the news."  
  
"Yeah," Tom said nodding and closing the door behind him. He walked forward and set the loaded gun down on the table.  
  
"And I assumed you'd come for me," Wyatt said. "Of course," Tom persisted sensing the sarcasm in his father's voice.  
  
"So I thought I'd make your job a lot easier and come to you."  
  
"It's good to see you're alright," Debs said coming fully out the of the kitchen and embracing her soon-to-be father-in-law.  
  
"Good to see you alright Debra," Wyatt had always insisted on calling all of Tom's girlfriends, past and present, by their full first name... even if the person hated it.  
  
"I assume we're leaving town?" Wyatt said. He'd been raised in the deserts of New Mexico, where life was hard and when weird thing happened the only thing to do was pack your suitcase and move on... and in New Mexico a lot of weird things happened, so Wyatt was used to the situation and was adapting better than Tom, Gary and Debs.  
  
"Yeah," Tom said going over to Debs and holding her close to him... she was handling things a little worse than the others.  
  
"Gary," Tom said finally letting go of Debs and taking command of the situation, "Bring your car around. We might as well take mine and yours... that way we can take more stuff."  
  
"Go idea," Gary said reaching into his pocket and retrieving his car keys.  
  
"Bad idea," Wyatt said, he'd taken the liberty of sitting on the sofa, he was nearly 70 yet he looked only in his 50s... but a life of excess and smoking had diminished his overall health.  
  
"What?" Tom said starring at his father, "Why is taking two cars a bad idea?"  
  
"You're increasing the chance we'll get separated... if we do take a lot of our possessions then that'll leave just the front seats open for passengers... that means two in each car. That means if one of us looses the other then we're going to loose two people."  
  
"What do you suggest then?" Tom demanded, he respected his father and his wisdom but hated to be spoken to as a child.  
  
"We should take one car, and only the essential items. If we're lucky, this will all be over and we'll be able to return to our homes."  
  
Gary was nodding, he was happy to go with either plan but he could see the logic in Wyatt's. "He's got a point Tom."  
  
"Fine," Tom finally gave-in. "We'll take just the one car, me and Debs in the front. Gary and dad you're in the back."  
  
Wyatt didn't complain though in the back of his mind he knew it would be a better strategy to have Gary in the front with the weapon.  
  
"Right... Gary we'll take your car. It's bigger," Tom said. Gary run out the door to get his car. "Debs," Tom said turning to his girlfriend, "Collect as much food as you can, we'll pack it into the back."  
  
Tom gave his dad a quick stare just to make sure the old man didn't have any complaints about Tom's organization.  
  
"Bring the kitchen knives," Wyatt said.  
  
"What?" Debs said stopping her retrieval of food items from the kitchen's cupboards.  
  
"If we run into trouble... that gun only has one magazine," Wyatt pointed out.  
  
Debs smiled and nodded going to the knife holder and tipping the collection of five very sharp stainless-steel knives.  
  
"I'll take those," Tom said coming over to pick the knives up from the bench where Deb's had tipped them.  
  
Tom slotted the biggest, the carving knife, into his belt for use later and the other he put into the carrier bag Debs was placing food into.  
  
A few moments later the food was packed into four carrier bags and Tom, Debs and Wyatt were ready to leave, only problem was Gary hadn't come back yet...  
  
"His house is only a 2 minute walk, where is he?" Debs asked.  
  
Gary had been gone for a good 10 minutes, his house was only a couple away walking... even less if he ran. Tom was accommodating for loss and search for car keys etc. but still Gary should have been back by now...  
  
"I'm going to go looking for him," Tom said standing up. The three, Tom, Wyatt and Debs had all taken seats around the coffee table.  
  
"No wait," Wyatt said grabbing his son's hand. "If you're lost out there to... then Debra will only have me for defence... and I'm too old for that responsibility."  
  
Tom looked at his father, it was rare for the old man to admit such weakness. But then again he'd never seen his father's personality deal with this sort of situation.  
  
"Dad, I can't expect..." Wyatt butted in, "Well at least take the gun," Toms' father said picking up the handgun and placing it in Tom's hands.  
  
Tom nodded and headed for the door, "If I'm not back in 5 minutes, Dad... I want you," Tom paused for a moment to through his dad his car keys, "... to get Debs out of the city - understand?"  
  
Wyatt nodded.  
  
Tom nodded back, "See you in a minute," he said as if praying silently to himself and to whatever god his fait rested with.  
  
He headed out the door, being sure to shut it firmly behind him.  
  
The flat Tom and Debs were residents in was a tiny little thing, situated above a convenience store, and the door opened onto a small patio that lead to some stairs that lead down the street.  
  
Tom headed across the tiny patio and down the stairs and into the open street... he looked left first, nothing out of the ordinary. A little more deserted than was usual for that time of the day but nothing extraordinary.  
  
Tom then looked right, what he saw would shock and horrify anyone...  
  
Even the most horrific photo you would have seen of the napalm burnt bodies and the scorched earth during the Vietnam war couldn't have prepared anyone for Tom was forced to watch...  
  
Three or four dead bodies lay just a few feet away from where Tom was standing... the dead, even in the horrors of war, were usually left alone. Not here, the bodies of those that were dead were being devoured by others, even as clumps of dead flesh dropped from their own bodies.  
  
Tom moved his hand quickly to his mouth to stop himself vomiting.  
  
He looked further into the distance past where the nearest corpses were being devoured, he was a few people... their skin the colour of a living being fleeing from a group of those people who's flesh was rotten... their fleeing was to no avail as they were suddenly engulfed by the flames from the explosion of a car.  
  
Tom leapt back at the sight of the explosion, it seemed to knock his focus back onto survival rather than witnesses the horrors...  
  
He ran back up the stairs and burst through the door of his home, he gave up on Gary, his friend's home was in the same direction as the horrors... he'd have no chance.  
  
"Where's Gary?" Debs asked, she already knew the answer to her question, but she had to ask anyway.  
  
Tom simply shook his head, "We have to leave."  
  
"Now."  
  
Wyatt wasted little time and was immediately at the door with a selection of the bags. Debs was a little slower to react but she was ready within a few minutes.  
  
"Ready?" Tom said. He held his car keys in one hand and his weapon in the other. The new plan? Just get to Tom's car, pack as much stuff in and just drive.  
  
Wyatt nodded, Debs didn't respond. Tom knew nothing could really prepare her or anyone for what was going on outside.  
  
Tom turned the doorknobs and lead his father and girlfriend onto the patio, down the stairs and onto the street... 


	3. The Escape Begins

Tom was the first out of the door. He came out onto the run-down patio and headed down into the street ahead of his father and Debs. He wanted to make sure it was safe.  
  
His mind was going a mile a minute, everything had happened so fast. Less than two hours ago he'd been in bed... unaware of the horrors that were occurring throughout the city... and right outside his own home.  
  
He knew what he was doing, yet confusion and a sense of overall panic was always at the very brink of his mind... trying to infiltrate his currently workable mind.  
  
The scene on the street wasn't much different from before, a scene of death... destruction... savagery, horror and gore. The smell too, Tom noticed, had also changed... maybe the direction of the wind had changed, or maybe Tom's eyes had become accustomed to the unbelievable horror that his senses had time to focus on other things. It wasn't the usual smell you'd associate from a middle class area of a city... or even the run down area of a city. It was more the musty smell of a coffin that had been opened days after a man had been buried away within it.  
  
Smell is the strongest sense, even for humans, and Tom knew he'd smelt the stench before. But for now he couldn't place it, and had little time to consider it.  
  
To the left again it was rather calm and serene... though even that direction flames had engulfed several houses and was getting rather close to the line of cars.  
  
Tom's car was one of those cars being endangered by the flames.  
  
He gave a quick look behind him to see his father and girlfriend come cautiously from the stairs, it was noticeable that Wyatt had seen the destruction on his way over and was trying to keep Debs facing the other way as to not see the zombie eating frenzy.  
  
Tom made a dash for his car, he'd always been physically fit... but in all situations and times of crisis the human body always seemed to manage super-human strength and he made it to his car in what must have been record time.  
  
He reached deep into the pockets of the jeans he always wore and produced his car-keys, or what he would later call "His little metal saviours".  
  
He opened up his car door and jumped in, slamming the door as he settled into the drivers seat. He sat for a split second, he was working in his head the route out of the city... it had been a while since he'd taken a trip by car out of the city, he usually took the train. And with this disaster occurring around him he had no idea what roads would be blocked and which wouldn't.  
  
He longed for Gary to be there, as Tom knew that his friend had been a Taxi driver around Raccoon City for several years before joining the cleaning crew at Umbrella Inc. and his knowledge of the streets would have made the job a lot easier.  
  
Tom wasted no more time and drove the keys into the ignition, turning the keys violently and with a purpose. The motor started up, his car was almost brand new after all... no problems with the engine. And put it into gear.  
  
Before he could push his foot lightly onto the gas pedal however something landed onto the boot of the car with a loud bang... the noise of flesh hitting metal rang into Tom's ears.  
  
Keeping his foot ready to accelerate and his hands on the wheel and the gear stick he turned around to look at the rear window of his car. On the boot he saw an elderly man, his throat ripped in half and his torso littered with what appeared to be bite marks.  
  
Tom's eyes winded, he'd never wanted to see death so close up, he immediately slammed down the accelerator whilst still looking backwards at the deceased body. The car burst forward in a quick leap of energy. Tom slammed the breaks a second later after he'd begun to turn his head back to face the front and he saw a human body fly over the roof.  
  
The car came to a stop a second later a dozen or so away from where Wyatt and Debs stood frightened to death with the bags.  
  
Tom looked in his rear view mirror to see the person he'd just run over raise itself to it's feet... he saw, it was no person. It was one of the army of the undead.  
  
He threw the gear stick into reverse and hit the accelerator down hard. The car exploded into a backwards motion after a micro-second of wheel spin and the body was crushed beneath the car. Tom had seen what these things were doing... and he had no intentions of going out that way.  
  
He once again put the car into first gear and drove responsibility to his father and girlfriend.  
  
"Get in," he yelled after coming to a halt. Tom watched his mirrors as Debs and Wyatt pilled as much stuff as they could into the boot before getting into the back seats. The seat next to Tom was filled with a suitcase Wyatt had filled with knives, and anything that could be used as a weapon... with the gun and spare ammo laid out on top.  
  
They were ready... to make their escape. 


End file.
